What do we actually know about the Butcher of Mons case?

The basic outline is that several women disappeared around Mons in 1996 and 1997. After human remains were found in rubbish bags in March 1997, investigators recovered 37 body parts belonging to five victims. The case was never solved, and the perpetrator was not identified.

Early disappearances received limited attention, then the discoveries brought a much larger investigation, with assistance from the FBI.

I’d be careful about treating the number of body parts as a clue to a specific person or motive. The reported facts are that remains from multiple victims were placed in bags, and investigators thought the dismemberment may have made identification harder. That does not establish who did it, or exactly why.

A named-suspect theory circulates, but the details described here do not make it a strong identification. The other killer in that theory had murdered women he knew and had no clear connection to the Mons area. Similarity in mutilation alone isn’t enough to show the cases were linked.

So the useful distinction is between documented facts about the five victims and a theory that has not been established. The case remains unsolved.